Tuesday, December 9, 2008

USA - Lake Erie lighthouses (US-294925)

I really like it, when there's some information about the card printed on it's backside :) I don't have to use Wikipedia then ;) But, before I copy the info about this card, I must tell you that there's definitely something special about the lighthouses. I've visited some (I can't remember exactly, how many) on the Polish seaside. When I was a child, I enjoyed counting the stairs (there are usually about 200, if I remember well). Later I tried to imagine living in a lighthouse, being alone with your thoughts there during a storm. Would I enjoy it? Probably yes, but not for a long time. I also remember reading a short story by a famous Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz, about a Polish man, who worked in a lighthouse somewhere in Central America (was it Panama?). Once he received a famous Polish book, started reading it, then had a dream about Poland (which wasn't independent at that time), fell asleep, forgot to turn on the light and caused and a ship crashed because of him. The man lost his job, but he felt better, because he had a part of his homeland (the book) with himself. That was so sad...Nowadays navigation is so much easier... But making our lives easier means also losing some symbols, just like the light, which has always been the symbol of hope and the right way.

I'm sorry for writing so much :)So, here's the information about this card:

Navigation on Lake Erie has been aided since the nineteenth century by lighthouses dotting the Ohio shoreline. The Marblehead Lighthouse, constructed in 1821, is the oldest working lighthouse on the Great Lakes. Left: Marblehead, Top Center: Lorain, Middle Center: Cleveland, Bottom Center: Mentor Headlands, Right: Farport Harbor